Chillin' at the Pool

Grace was invited to a pool playgroup with some friends from our MOMS group. She had a great time playing in the pool and the water fountains. No surprise to me, she did have to take a little "rest." She's been an observer since the day she was born- just a little more obvious as she gets older....

Maps

Grace has developed a love of maps- thanks to Dora and all the singing about maps. The other day we were on our way to a pool party and I told her I needed to look on the computer to find out how to get there. She said "Mommy, I be right back" and a few seconds later she emerged from her room with Jack's old marathon map of Disney World. She said "I find it Mommy" and she sat down and looked very seriously at the map. She found a lake and said "I found it- let's go." And the entire ride there she sat with that map in her lap and would randomly tell me to turn left or right. She studied it the entire way and I really think she thinks she's the reason we got there ;o)

Tommy?

Grace doesn't know a Tommy. I'm pretty sure I know all the kids' names at church, where she goes to school and nursery. I know all my friends' kids names that she plays with. There is no Tommy. So, imagine our surprise when Grace picked up the ultrasound picture I had taken a few weeks ago and said "Oh, that my baby brother Tommy. That Tommy's head, that Tommy's eyes, etc." And every day since there has been at least 10 references a day to her brother Tommy. It's usually just pointing to my stomach and saying "that my brother Tommy" but today she went as far as to tell me "she and Tommy play cars and blocks when he comes out." Sometimes I wish we had found out what the gender is so we can tell her but then we would never get to be amazed by her imagination- WHO IS TOMMY?......

Jack, Grace and the MOMS Group

This month, with no Mother's Day Out, Jack has been watching Grace while I go into the office to meet with clients a couple times a week. One of those times was last Tuesday. The MOMS group from our church had planned a playgroup, so our favorite dad decided to not let the name of the group intimidate him and tagged along. I know Grace had a great time- she told me all about the animals she saw and what they eat when I picked her up. She also got to ride the train for the first time!

Thanks to all the moms who take care of Jack and Grace on these outings. Jack has admitted that he likes to go because if he gets a work call, he just points at Grace and someone watches her as he walks away.

Future Attorney?

Grace just picked up a piece of paper with a lot of writing on it and said "Oh, this a document, I sign it" and proceeded to find a pen and scribble a "signature" on the bottom.

And then....

If you have spent any time with Grace, you know how obsessed she is with her schedule and knowing what is going on. Part of me isn't surprised- we run quite a schedule everyday- between our work, everyone's activities, her naps, etc. we are constantly going.

The inquiry process started simple enough- every time she went to sleep, she would ask "Gracie wake-up?" which we quickly learned was her way of asking what the plans were when she woke up.

Then it turned into "Gracie wake-up" and when we answered she said "and then" so we answered but heard "and then." And she doesn't stop. And recently she added to every event "Who with, what their name?" And she will ask the schedule for days in advance, sometimes a week.

And heaven help you if you devitate from the schedule because she remembers it when she wakes up. As soon as she gets up, she tells you her schedule. If you don't do what you had listed hours or even days before, we have an upset little girl on our hands. We learned to make sure to put fillers in- for example if you tell her she has dance class at 9am and we are going out to lunch after, she expects to go to lunch at 9:45am when dance class is over.

Gift idea for Grace when she can read- a planner.

Paws and Patriots

Please consider joining the Alabama War Dog Memorial Foundation for the 2008 Paws and Patriots Walk and Festival at Heardmont Park on September 6. For more information, please visit our website (see below). It will be a great family event. There will be walking, live music and vendors. Furthermore, Heardmont has a great playground. Bring a blanket and chairs and enjoy the day.

http://www.pawsandpatriotswalk.com/

First gift for the baby

I had to do some shopping for a friend's baby shower this past weekend. On Saturday morning I told Grace we were going to shopping for clothes for Ms. Heather and her three new babies. Grace looked right at me and said "No, no clothes for Ms. Heather, I buy clothes for my new baby brother." (And I know some of you are thinking, "I didn't know they were having a boy..." but we didn't either. Grace, on her own, has decided we are having a boy and isn't giving that idea up).

S0- off to the store we go and Grace must have picked up about 10 outfits- ranging in clothes, sizes and styles for her "baby brother." It was so sweet that she thought of him all by herself and wanted to buy him things and wanted nothing to do with the gifts I was buying- sorry Heather. Here is the outfit that we decided on. Neutral of course- I'm not quite convinced of her psychic power...

Olympics

We (well, let me just clarify that from the beginning- "we" is Grace and me- I can't believe I married someone that doesn't like the Olympics, one of my all-time favorite things) anyway- we have been watching the Olympics like everyone else. Grace goes to bed pretty early in the broadcast so she doesn't get to watch much, but lately diving has been coming on for her to see. She is fascinated by it and claps for every dive. The funniest thing is that she gets very excited and repeats over and over "Mommy- they put their face in the water- yea!" and claps even harder.

Bowling

On Friday, my office participated in Bowl for Kid's Sake and we decided to make it a family affair. This is actually Grace's third year in a row to participate but her first year to bowl.

She got her shoes and picked out an orange ball and was ready to go.

Everyone who participated got a t-shirt. Grace literally pulled off her overalls in the bowling alley and started to strip so she could wear the shirt. When the pizza came out- she was suddenly ready for a break.

She had a great time bowling!

Playing Dress-Up

Grace received some "dress-up" clothes for her 2nd birthday from her Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jeff. She really didn't pay much attention to them until this week. Now, all she wants to do is play "princess" and put on her dress and "high heel" shoes. She shuffles around the house like she is big stuff. Delayed thanks to S&J for her new favorite toy.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Grace's new favorite song...

Kid's Table

The "Kid's Table" always carries a certain stigma and no one wants to get stuck there... but- I never thought about it ever being a big deal to be there until this past weekend when Grace finally made it there. What a milestone! We had dinner at our friends Tony and Betsy's house and instead of high chairs for the kids, we let them sit at their own table in their own room. Grace thought she was SO BIG eating with Caroline and Evelyn without her mommy and daddy.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Last weekend we celebrated Grace's Grandma's birthday. She had a great time playing with all Grandma and Pop's toys and swimming in the pool.

She had quite a few parties on the new table they got (and also had time to catch up on her phone calls). Happy Birthday Grandma!

The aftermath

We hosted our "co-op playgroup" last week. The girls had a great time and I had no time to take pictures so I decided to try and capture the aftermath and these pictures don't do it justice...

Barbie House

Grace's friend Sarah Grace gave Grace her old Barbie house, Barbie boat and a few Barbies with accessories. I really thought we would put it away for a year or two down the road. I was wrong- as soon as Grace saw it, she was so excited. She loves it and asks to play with it all the time. It's definitely her new favorite thing to play with. Thanks Sarah Grace!

One More?

I took Grace to my office the other day and her friend Mrs. Doris gave her a small bag of cookies. On the way home, I asked Grace if she would share with me. She said yes and handed me a cookie. I asked her if she would share again and she said "one more." Once she handed it to me, she said "you done." I was most surprised, especially given that Grace pretends not to know the meaning of "one more" when she asks me for anything. True to her words, Grace refused to give me any more cookies, despite my repeated requests!

Friends or Pizza?

The other day we invited Grace's friends Anna, Little Tad, Liam and Quinn over for lunch. She was very excited all morning to play with them and kept asking me when they were coming. We went and picked up a pizza right before they were scheduled to come over. I put the pizza in the car and as soon as the smell hit her- she literally said "Uh.. no friends come over Mommy, I eat pizza myself, no friends." I explained to her that we weren't going to un-invite them and she had to share and she was very upset until they got here and luckily she forgot about not sharing ;o)

Kitchen Tip

So... when you are about to turn on the oven, make sure you look FIRST to see if your husband hid dirty dishes in there instead of cleaning them when company came over.....That was my colander...

This is the "mild" picture- you should have seen the oven.....

New Hairstyles

Grace's Aunt Laura made a huge discovery last weekend- Grace's hair is finally long enough for pony tails and pig tails! She was so proud of them. Thanks for the new hairstyles Aunt Laura!

The Backyardigans

Craig and Laura have a hill in their backyard perfect for rolling. In addition, we all enjoyed playing with the "birthday bubble gun."

Swimming With the Fishes

While in Chattanooga we visited the Tennessee Aquarium. We all had a great time.

Grace surprised us by putting her hand in the water with the stingrays.

Uncle Craig taught Grace about the fish

It was Shark Week

Grace enjoyed the "caves"

It was a long day

After the Aquarium Craig and Laura took us to a really nice park for a picnic lunch. Well, Grace must have been tired, for she had what could only be described as a nuclear meltdown breakdown. Angry crying does not provide great background music for a picnic, so after a quick lunch, we scooped up our little chernobyl and took her home. When we were back at the house, we told Grace how disappointed we were with her and her reply was "I not bad at aquarium, I bad at park." I guess a .500 batting average isn't too bad!

That Guy

Every night when we say our prayers with Grace there is always a list of people at the end to pray for. In the beginning, she would forget who to pray for so we would have to prompt her. One of the first days she forgot Elliot, our dog, so I pointed at him and said- "don't forget that guy." Ever since that day- she prays for "that guy" and points at Elliot and laughs. When we were on our trip last week, Elliot had to be boarded so we told Grace Elliot was going on his own trip. When we did our prayers last week, Grace surprised us (actually, nothing surprises us anymore) by praying for "that guy on the trip." Too funny

Happy Birthday Jack!

Friday was Jack's birthday and we all had a great day. Grace was very excited about Jack's birthday and told him "Happy Birthday" a million times. She was excited to give him the gift she had picked out all by herself- a bubble gun. She had told me for weeks her Daddy wanted bubbles for his birthday.

It started with a visit to the Chattanooga Zoo. The zoo was a little smaller than we expected but still had a great time. The animals were a little unusual- not the usual lions and tigers. Once cage/display we found was the raccoons. I don't believe I've ever seen raccoons in a zoo so we stopped to look. Grace announced to us and everyone standing around "Oh, those raccoons, I have those in my house..." The people around us gave us some weird looks....(and either Monster and Mitch are doing their job or the raccoons have decided to move on because we don't anymore..;o)).

We did have a major break-through- Grace actually spent time in the petting zoo and did pet the animals. After the zoo, we went out to lunch and home for afternoon naps.

Craig and Laura joined us for dinner at a great rib place in Chattanooga- Sticky Fingers. Grace more than enjoyed the meat. She ate quite a bit of meat off the ribs, then started asking for "the bone" and then when we were out of ribs, asked for her Uncle Craig's remaining chicken wing. Grace told us she was leaving the restaurant with her Daddy by herself. We asked her what they were going to do and she said "My daddy like golf, we golf." Which was interesting because it's exactly the surprise we had planned for Jack after dinner and we did not tell her at all.

Miniature golfing is one of Jack and my favorite activities. It was lots of fun with Craig and Laura- and even Grace. She did great. We weren't quite sure what to expect but she knew her ball was the pink one and she really didn't touch ours. She loved running up and putting the ball in the "obstacle" and watching it roll towards the hole. She was always very proud of herself when she threw the ball hard enough to land in the hole.
We took pictures on the first game of all the "holes in one." One of us did a little better than the rest.... (for the record- I had a hole in one on the second game, after we had already put the camera in the car... )

At the end of the two games we played- there was a "19th hole." It was one of those one shot- impossible holes that you win a free game if you can get it with a hole in one. Jack, Craig and Laura all missed- and I got it! Then Jack had Grace's ball and he made it! The sirens and bells were going off and told you to proceed inside for your prize. Grace was so excited at the prospect of a prize. She was not satisfied with the ticket we received for our free game. The park was not cooperating with us when we offered to buy one of the 5 cent prizes they had for the arcade- we would have paid anything but they wouldn't budge. Luckily I had a book in the diaper bag that she hadn't seen so we gave her that. She was so proud. She told us it was for her "good golfing." She found that book again today, almost a week later, and she said "Oh, this my prize for good golfing"....

We (the adults) ended the evening with some great cake Laura made for Jack.

Blueberry Picking...well, eating

On our way from Atlanta to Chattanooga, we stopped at a Blueberry Farm. Grace was immediately disappointed when we stepped out of the car at the "farm" when she said "Where animals?" We did call it a farm..... She recovered quickly when we showed her all the blueberries she could pick. She was very proud of her bucket and for a little while, was excited about putting the berries in there. She was very good at picking the blue ones from the pink ones. Then, Jack showed her how to eat them. It was all over then... none went in the bucket after that. We told her to put them in the bucket but instead she would place her hand in there with the berry and when we turned our heads, she pulled it right back out and in her mouth...

Hotel Living

When we were in Atlanta, we had to stay at a hotel since my parents sold their house. This was the first time Grace stayed at a hotel when she was conscious to what was going on. We lucked out with a suite with two bedrooms so we weren't exactly "roughing it." Grace loved our little room, especially the breakfast in the morning. We couldn't believe they had Diego and Dora yogurt and Grace thought she was a big girl eating on the couch. And of course she loved the hotel pool. She only drove us slightly crazy with her questions about who stayed there the night before, who was going to stay there after we left, who are the people in the hall, etc.... :o)

Happy Retirement!

My dad officially retired on July 31st. The day before, his work had a great party for him- including quite a roast...Jack, Grace and I went over to Atlanta to represent the rest of the family and show our support- and to surprise him. We promised Grace a party for Papa and told her there would be cake. We didn't know to tell her there would be 45 minutes of speeches first, all celebrating my dad's years of work- and gentle teasing about his "frugality." Grace sat very well staring at the cake, listening to the people, watching the slideshow- for about 43 minutes. She listened to her Papa's speech from the hallway and clapped excitedly, yelling "cake!" when he was finished.

We wish you many great years during this next phase of your life- and can't wait to spend more time with you!